How Does YOUR COMPANY Compare to Your Competition?

Find the answer with MacKay & Company's Monthly Aftermarket Index Report.

Since 1998, MacKay & Company has managed an aftermarket index for component suppliers to the medium and heavy duty on-highway truck, bus and trailer aftermarket in North America. This report is the first and ONLY Index covering commercial vehicle aftermarket parts.

“Having the possibility to compare your performance against a very similar group of companies within your same industry segment is priceless. It helps you determine the effectiveness of your sales and marketing strategies. Acting based on the Aftermarket Index information is a much better feeling than acting based on macroeconomic statistics alone.”

— Participant A

“We follow the index very closely. We find it to be a great tool.”

— Participant B

The Aftermarket Index is a monthly report covering the size and performance of the commercial parts aftermarket. We segment the Commercial Vehicle Parts Market by country – U.S., Canada and Mexico and by two channels – the Original Equipment and the Independent Channel.

Performance is tracked: Monthly, Quarterly, Year-to-Date and for a 3-month and 12-month Moving Average. In the monthly report, we also include a blind YTD Change Per Company (no name given), sum of average sales per day for all companies and historical data back to 2009. (All individual participants’ sales data are kept confidential; only summarized data is reported to the group.)

Currently, 20 companies participate in our Aftermarket Index. With our current participation, the Aftermarket Index represents $2.8 Billion in commercial aftermarket parts sales in North America. With each new company that joins the index, the value of the Index increases because it represents a larger share of the market. Join the Aftermarket Index and begin to utilize all of this data to better understand how your company stacks up!

For more information, Contact John Blodgett via email at john.blodgett@mackayco.com or the Contact Form on his About page.

Longest Day: Good time to look at the long and the short of the aftermarket

As I write this column, we just finished the longest day of the year (I mean daylight hours, not a bad day which doesn’t seem to want to end) June 21. Not quite the midpoint of the year, but close, so maybe it is a good time to review what we (MacKay & Company) know so far about the aftermarket for 2017. I do understand that by the time you are reading this it is likely August and Jordan Spieth has already won the British Open. 

Let’s start with our Fleet Utilization Index. Each quarter we measure fleet vehicle utilization rates for over 700 fleets of various sizes and vocations. Obviously, fleets’ equipment usage has a direct impact on the aftermarket for parts and service. First quarter utilization came in at a record high and the forecast by the fleets for the second and third quarters was also very strong.

We also have an Aftermarket Index of component suppliers’ sales to OES and independent channels. Preliminary numbers through May have the parts sales for these participants up 3.5% year-to-date compared to last year. Canada is up 7.8%. Sales to Independent channels are outperforming OES in both markets. Both markets (U.S. and Canada) were down last year compared to 2015.  Commercial break- If you would like to join Index – let me know. Now back to the column.

Monthly, we also survey several truck dealers and independent parts distributors each month about their aftermarket parts sales. Our survey respondents in May for both channels were up between 4% and 5% year-to-date compared to 2016. 

Bob Dieli, our economist and frequent contributor to this column, has a short term economic outlook tool called Enhanced Aggregate Spread (EAS). I won’t enlighten or bore you (depending on interest level for economic forecasting) on the details now, but basically Bob takes four real economic measurement, combines them in an Index and pushes it out nine months — turns out to be a good short term indicator of economic activity. At present, it is showing positive economic activity out into the first quarter of 2018. EAS is also a good leading indicator for our measurement of trucking economy called Truckable Economic Activity (TEA®). Currently all sectors of TEA® are at or above levels measured last year. 

“Now is the time to take advantage of a good market and make hay”

— John Blodgett

Retail sales are forecast to be down this year, but while retail sales can be an indication of economic health, they don’t truly impact the aftermarket of the current year.

Our forecast for 2017 aftermarket in January of this year was for the market to be up 1.5% over 2016. At present, that looks light, but time will tell. We do complete our major update and forecast in July, so stay tuned. 

In summary, most indications are positive and the short term outlook is positive, business and consumer confidence is good and forecast capital spending by corporations is expected to be up. Now is the time to take advantage of a good market and make hay (or better yet money). Turn off the radio and TV talking heads (and twitter account if you have one) and focus on what you can control – your business. 

Truck Parts & Service July, 2017 Article by John Blodgett